1Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm on my holy hill.
Let all who live in the land tremble,
for the day of the LORD is coming.
It is close at hand—
2a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and blackness.
Like dawn spreading across the mountains
a large and mighty army comes,
such as never was of old
nor ever would be in ages to come.
3Before them fire devours,
behind them a flame blazes.
Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,
behind them, a desert waste—
nothing escapes them.
4They have the appearance of horses;
they gallop along like cavalry.
5With a noise like that of chariots
they leap over the mountaintops,
like a crackling fire consuming stubble,
like a mighty army drawn up for battle.
6At the sight of them, nations are in anguish;
every face turns pale.
7They charge like warriors;
they scale walls like soldiers.
They all march in line,
not swerving from their course.
8They do not jostle each other;
each marches straight ahead.
They plunge through defenses
without breaking ranks.
9They rush upon the city;
they run along the wall.
They climb into the houses;
like thieves they enter through the windows.
10Before them the earth shakes,
the sky trembles,
the sun and moon are darkened,
and the stars no longer shine.
11The LORD thunders
at the head of his army;
his forces are beyond number,
and mighty are those who obey his command.
The day of the LORD is great;
it is dreadful.
Who can endure it?
Original Meaning
DISASTER PILES UPON disaster, with the prophet turning from a description of agricultural catastrophe to the description of an invading army. While this is most likely a metaphorical description of the invading locusts, it drives home the destructive capability of the invaders. This further elucidates the Day of the Lord, a day so momentous that the entire nation needs to be warned of its approach. The description of the Day builds up throughout this passage, starting with the warning (v. 1), a description of the darkness of the Day (v. 2a), which is compared to the approaching army (v. 2b). The metaphor changes to overwhelming fire (v. 3) and then to an inexorable army (vv. 4–9). Its coming results in an apocalyptic cataclysm affecting the entire universe (v. 10). Possibly even more devastating than its physical presence is the identity of the army’s commander, God himself (v. 11).
A Warning concerning the Day (2:1–2a).
A NEW SECTION commences with the speaker turning from addressing Yahweh (1:19–20) to Yahweh addressing the people (2:1). He still uses the second person, but now a plural (“all”) rather than the singular forms. He rejoins the theme of the Day of the Lord (1:15), expanding on events comprising it. This theme of “the Day” both opens and closes 2:1–11.
The section begins with an urgent series of commands, the first two imperatives and the third a jussive (“let us”). The signaling “trumpet” (šôpār) made from a ram’s horn is to be blown, as it is in war, heralding an attack (e.g., Judg. 7:8; Job 39:25), or on other occasions announcing news of great import (1 Sam. 13:3; 1 Kings 1:34). The second verb is more general, indicating that a loud noise is to be raised, whether by horn or voice (rwʿ; Josh. 6:5; 1 Sam. 10:24). The inhabitants of the land shake, either in anger (Ezek. 16:43) or, more likely, in terror (Deut. 2:25) at the news they hear.
The place where the alarm is raised is called “Zion” (cf. Joel 2:15, 23, 32; 3:16, 17, 21) and “my holy hill.” In 3:17, the latter modifies the former in apposition. As the site of the temple, the dwelling of God himself (Ps. 76:2), it is the natural source for his warnings. It is also where the people gather to meet the onslaught. During war, they man the battlements from whence comes the call (Ezek. 33:2–4), but this type of attack rendered by nature demands a different type of response, a cultic one, which is also an occasion for trumpet and cry (Lev. 25:9).
The reason for this alarm is again “the day of the LORD” (cf. Joel 1:15). It is not always clear whether the Day is recollected or anticipated, but in either case, it is a matter of consternation.1 The Day’s nearness indicates its imminence, as is usually the case with this predicate adjective “at hand” (qārôb; e.g., Deut. 32:35; Obad. 15).
The nature of the Day is described in terms used verbatim in Zephaniah 1:14–15. These are used elsewhere of a theophany, a visible manifestation of God in his awesome power (Joel 2:31; see Bridging Contexts section). There is particularly a strong tie-in with the Exodus event, where “darkness” was one of God’s plagues on Egypt (Ex. 10:21–22; cf. also 10:14–15, where the plague of locusts also brought darkness), in the description of which the synonym translated here as “gloom” also occurs (10:22; cf. also Isa. 8:22; 58:10). What God delimited at creation (Gen. 1:2–5) now returns, an appropriate parallel to this empty, lifeless landscape, denuded of the vegetation that he also created (1:11–12). The second clause also has Exodus ties, but these are later in that story, when God guides Israel using a “cloud” (Ex. 13:21–22; Deut. 1:33) and actually appears to them and Moses in a theophany.
Note how Amos uses “darkness” and “gloom” to correct Israel’s optimistic conception of the Day of the Lord (Amos 5:18, 20). Israel thought the Day to be one of blessing, light, and brightness, but Amos corrects them of that perception. Zephaniah picks up these terms to develop his concept of the Day more fully, as a warning to his own period. Joel then uses these terms to indicate that Zephaniah’s predictions are coming about; these calamitous events befalling his people are part of the Day. Joel joins himself to the “official,” cautionary view of the Day rather than the popular, optimistic one countered by Amos.
Expansion on the Nature of the Day (2:2b–11)2
JOEL NOW EXPANDS on the nature of this Day. It is like a “mighty army,” already introduced in 1:6–7 and developing themes encountered there and elsewhere in the book. A possible linking feature leading to this comparison is the encroachment of a people (ʿam; cf. 1:6, where the related term gôy is used) like either “the dawn” or “darkness”3 as it spreads out like a net (cf. Isa. 19:8; Hos. 5:1) over the hills of Jerusalem (Joel 2:32; 3:17–18) in its slow, inevitable approach. From the following verses with their military aspect, this army must still represent the nation of locusts. Number and strength have swapped places from 1:6, here with the more frequent “large, great” (rab; Ex. 12:38). The army is without comparison from time immemorial (Ps. 119:52; Isa. 27:8; cf. the future orientation of the term in Joel 2:26, 27; 3:20, where the present negative connotation is to be reversed), and also nothing will be its duplicate afterward, in the future (lit., “years of many generations,” Deut. 32:7; cf. Joel 1:3; 3:20).
Joel now discusses this invasion spatially, with a play on what happens “before” it (i.e., the encroacher, v. 3) and “behind” it (v. 3). The first two clauses have parallel actions of fire and flame already encountered in 1:19–20. The encroacher pursues a “scorched-earth policy.” The previous and resultant states of the countryside are starkly contrasted in the last half of the verse. Previously there was land “like the garden of Eden,” a place of beauty, fruitful and luxuriant with trees and water (Gen. 2:9–10; Ezek. 28:13).4 After the marauders’ passing, it is only destruction (cf. Joel 1:7, 17), as lifeless as a true desert (cf. 1:20; 3:19).
This second half-verse takes two other prophecies of hope and turns them on their head. Both Isaiah 51:3 and Ezekiel 36:35 declare that Yahweh restores his errant people, including making their ruins and deserts like the Garden of Eden.5 Apparently Joel knows this traditional message of hope and also the rhetorical power it will have when reversed. People’s expectations, raised in hearing the familiar words, are shattered as they listen to the new meaning.6 While from a conventional war one might expect refugees (NIV “escapees”; Joel 2:32, “survivors”; Gen. 32:8; Obad. 14), in this case “even” these (using an emphatic adverb) do not survive this attacker. From the context, these survivors are not human but plants that will not be able to escape the locust horde (see Ex. 10:4).
Verses 4–5 provide five different comparisons of the invader with an army. Thus, this is not a literal army but rather a metaphorical one—the locust horde (cf. 1:4, 6). The first three liken the locusts to cavalry forces: the fierce look of charging horses, the swiftness of war horses (NIV “cavalry”), and the sound of the careening chariots. The description of the latter indicates the figurative nature of these analogies, since chariots cannot operate in mountain heights but need level terrain (Josh. 17:16).7 The verb is appropriate, since “skipping, skittering around” (rqd) applies to both animals (and insects) and chariots (Ps. 29:6; Isa. 13:21; Nah. 3:2).8 This poetic heightening of the actual illustrates the dread this unprecedented force brings on those who encounter it. Habakkuk 3:8 also uses this image of Yahweh as a divine charioteer with horses.
All three of these analogies are new to Joel. Not so the two that follow, however, since a “flame of fire” (Joel 1:19, 20; 2:3) and the “mighty army/nation” (ʿam; see comment on 2:2) occurred previously in this section. The flame makes a noise (cf. 2:11; 3:16) as it consumes the chaff or stubble, the dry waste remaining after all the useful grain is gone (Isa. 40:23; Jer. 13:24). The army/nation is not only powerful but is set out in full military array (Judg. 20:20; Jer. 6:23), ready for battle (cf. Joel 2:7; 3:9). The litany of military metaphors drives home the awareness that this force is awesome indeed.
Looking back on all that has just been described, in light of the dread evoked by this advancing marauder, the people respond like a woman in labor, writhing in anguished pain (Isa. 13:8; Jer. 4:31). A common metaphor for physical and psychological torment, it was real and immediate to the audience. Without hospitals, babies were born at home with the help of midwives (Ex. 1:15–21), so the process and the attendant pain, unameliorated by anesthetics, were part of everyone’s experience. It is not just Israel who has this response, but “nations” (cf. Ex. 15:14–16, where four named nations writhe). Such natural pestilences as drought, famine, or locust swarms knew no natural boundaries, so entire regions felt their effects.9
The second clause in verse 6 apparently indicates a physiological response to the stress of the situation. It involves the peoples’ faces (a play on the first word in the verse, [lit.] “because of,” which in Hebrew derives from the word for “face”). Literally they are said to “gather a glow/glory.”10 The verb is straightforward, used for collecting such things as people, crops, or water (2:16; 3:2, 11; cf. Isa. 22:9; 62:9). Most translations understand this as the color caused by blood flow being removed, resulting in a pallor, which is indeed a result of fear. What appears more likely, based on word meaning as well as context, is that this refers to the glow or pinkness from the collected blood in the face, resulting in flushing, which is the opposite physiological phenomenon to pallor.11 The verb usually indicates a gathering toward, not away from a place. Also, flushing is more in keeping with labor contractions and strain than is pallor, which more often follows delivery. An almost verbatim parallel to this clause occurs in Nahum 2:11, also in the context of enemy attack, but with no mention of labor pains. This is yet another place where Joel uses material from another source. He also structures his material to provide a multileveled chiasm.12
After this parenthetical interlude looking at those under attack, attention returns to the attackers, with two further explicit military comparisons (v. 7a). They are like “warriors” and “soldiers” (lit., “mighty [men]” [Josh. 10:7; 1 Sam. 2:4] and “men of war” [Ex. 15:3; Isa. 3:2]), two synonymous terms. They attack at a run, scaling the protective city walls (Deut. 28:52), without which a city is in disgrace (cf. Neh. 1:3). Just like at Jericho (Josh. 6:5, 20), this horde advances as if the walls are not even there.
Verses 7b–9 detail what each of the members of these two groups does, these mighty warriors.13 The first four clauses describe the unswerving commitment that each has to his own course. Like runners in their lanes, each soldier moves straight ahead, “through” rather than around obstacles. The meaning of the first verb in verse 8 is uncertain, occurring only in Judges 2:18, where it describes oppressors.
The next six clauses may form another chiasm, beginning and ending with sentences with almost the same structure, with the middle four also sharing similar structures. The four middle clauses in particular are short and staccato, rushing along like the attackers themselves. “Defenses” (here the handheld weaponry for attack or defense [Neh. 4:17, 23]) and “windows” (put in walls to provide light and air but able to be closed [Gen. 8:6; 2 Kings 13:7]) are both expected to keep people out, but now serve rather as the means of the enemy’s entry.
The last clause of verse 8 is variously interpreted. The verb usually means “cut off, i.e., kill” (Job 6:9; 27:8), which some translations see here as wounding (KJV, NJPS; cf. “cut off, complete,” LXX; “halted,” NRSV). Others perceive it as paralleling the negative clauses in verse 8, maintaining military ranks (ASV, NASB, NIV). Due to Joel’s penchant for reusing literary motifs, the latter is preferred.
Verse 9 describes the actual progression of events for the marauding forces: ranging around the city (Isa. 33:4; Nah. 2:5), attacking the walls, and climbing up to and into the house windows. The final comparison to a thief likely does not refer to their means of entry, by stealth at night (Jer. 49:9; Obad. 5), but to their purpose, taking what is not rightfully theirs (Gen. 31:19, 20, 26, 27; Ex. 22:6–7). This, then, is the awe-inspiring picture of an unswerving foe.
In verses 10–11, the description concludes with a depiction of the reaction from another perspective. The NIV and NRSV see universal turmoil coming “before them” (i.e., the mighty army of the previous verses). The Hebrew makes it even more ominous, however, anticipating new information revealed in verse 11. There the turmoil is “before him,” the same force referred to twice by the identical form in 2:3. The elements of the universe are in turmoil, just as the nations being attacked are in verse 6. The earth shakes like the land’s inhabitants are called to do in verse 1, and the very heavens (2:30; 3:16) also tremble like the earth moving in an earthquake (Judg. 5:4; Isa. 13:13; 24:18).14
Even the heavenly bodies—the sun, moon, and stars—lose their light (see the same two clauses in Joel 3:15; cf. 2:31). The first two blacken like the night (Mic. 3:6), a verb also used in texts of grief and mourning (Ps. 36:14; Jer. 8:21). The stars literally “remove their light,” as God removes his favor from his wayward people (Jer. 16:5; cf. Ps. 104:29).
The mounting litany reaches its climax in verse 11. The focus moves from humans (attacker and attacked) to the earth and heavens, and now specifically to the Creator of all, Yahweh (1:1), Israel’s own covenant God. He now reveals what is going on from his perspective, and it is not a comforting message to his people. The first audience knew that something dire was afoot, since Yahweh’s thundering (lit., “gave/lifted his voice”) is usually an awe-inspiring event that does not bring good news (2 Sam. 22:14; Jer. 25:30; Amos 1:2). The location of his thundering is what is troubling here: “at the head of his army.” The locust swarm is not just some freak of nature, a random storm that, though devastating, is entirely natural. It is rather a force brought and controlled by God himself.
This revelation of the actual source of the calamity makes the first audience go back over what they had just heard and experienced, reviewing it from the perspective of this new understanding. The author does the review literarily, reusing terms describing the numerous, mighty force that he used previously (cf. Joel 1:6; 2:2, 5). The force itself is given a new description: “forces,” a term not found elsewhere in this book. Elsewhere it is the structured encampment of the Israelites in the desert wanderings (e.g., Num. 2:17), but also an organized army (1 Sam. 17:46). This ordered troop of nature is at the same time the troop of Yahweh himself, obeying his commands.
The “day of the LORD” is also revisited (cf. Joel 1:15; 2:1). Its previously noted nearness is replaced by its magnitude and awesomeness (cf. 2:31; repeated with the same terminology in Mal. 4:5). The latter indicates the result of being in the presence of God (Gen. 28:17). It is not just approaching; it is already here, and it is overwhelmingly unbearable (Jer. 10:10; Amos 7:10).
Bridging Contexts
THEOPHANY—THE APPEARANCE OF GOD. The God of the Old Testament is not a deistic being, someone who starts his creation going and then leaves the scene, nor is he that of the animist, seeing deity as being resident in natural objects. While the Old Testament does not articulate a specific understanding of an omnipresent God, God does appear in physically discernable ways numerous times in the biblical text. Such an appearance is technically known as a theophany.
Divine appearances are at times accompanied by physical manifestations similar to those that accompany the Day of the Lord in this passage. Many of these are associated with the most important theophany in the life of the nation, Mount Sinai, where the Israelites received their foundational covenant document, making them a special people under God. A trumpet blast accompanies his appearance there (Ex. 19:16, 19; 20:18; Ps. 47:5; Zeph. 1:16; Zech. 9:14). Joel 2:2 reflects other elements of the Exodus tradition, with the divine manifestation in cloud (Ex. 16:10; 19:9) and blackness (Ex. 20:21; cf. Deut. 4:11, where darkness, blackness, and cloud unite; Ps. 97:2; also Amos 5:20; Zeph. 1:15 relating these elements to the Day).
Fire is also a manifestation of the presence of God at Mount Sinai (Ex. 19:18; 24:17; Deut. 5:23) as well as elsewhere (e.g., Gen. 15:17; Ex. 3:2; 13:21; Deut. 1:33; Ps. 97:3; Isa. 29:6; 66:15). It here accompanies the terrible Day (Joel 2:3). God’s appearance is associated with his “arm,” a symbol or metaphor of his strength and military might (Ex. 15:16; Deut. 4:34; 5:15; 1 Kings 8:42; Isa. 51:9). Joel 2 pictures the locust swarm also as being the army of God.
Earthquake is also associated with the appearance of God, as its sound, caused by military/locust advance (v. 10), here accompanies the Day of the Lord. At Mount Sinai, an earthquake accompanies smoke, fire, and trumpet, when Yahweh made a covenant with his people (Ex. 19:16–19; cf. Judg. 5:4), as it does when he comes to their aid in judgment on their enemies (e.g., Ps. 18:7–15; Isa. 13:13; Ezek. 38:19–20). The quaking accompanies his voice here (Joel 1:11) as it does elsewhere (e.g., Ps. 29:6–9). All of these elements unite this passage around the concept of the dreadful appearance of the mighty God, a general at the head of his natural, inhuman army.
Contemporary Significance
THE DARK IS RISING.15 Darkness, thunder, and destructive power are often not seen in the first instance as manifestations of God’s power, but often as just the opposite. The growing presence and power of evil, at times accompanied by these same natural phenomena, is not only a biblical theme, but one that is common in literature. It has made itself especially apparent in children’s literature of late, being a core motif of the continuingly popular Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis,16 and also in the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, based on the novels of Lewis’s friend J. R. R. Tolkien.17 The interest is not restricted to those with a Christian perspective, however, as evidenced by the currently burgeoning Harry Potter phenomenon.18 The motif is not restricted to this genre, however, finding a home from the story of Beowulf to modern romance novels and westerns.
In most iterations of this story, good ultimately wins out, leaving one with a spirit of optimism. Some of its darker examples, however, do not end this way, leaving the future bleak indeed.19 The latter better reflects the point of view of one suffering the onslaught of the darkness, evil, and suffering in whatever form. In the midst of the anguish, the darkness seems complete, with any light of hope vanished. What is not needed in this situation is some subjective attempt to pull oneself up by one’s bootstraps, or even worse, a claim that one should be able to do so on one’s own. Rather, there needs to be an external source of light and hope, a voice from outside indicating that the darkness is not universal and permanent.
It is this seemingly overwhelming blackness, both literal and metaphorical, that overwhelms Joel’s contemporaries in the shape of a devastating invasion of locusts. While this passage describes a bleak and chilling picture, it is bracketed by rays of hope—acknowledgment that God hears (Joel 1:19–21) and that he can turn back to them in grace if they respond to him in an appropriate way (2:12–14). The message to those of Joel’s day, and to ours, is not a claim that the darkness does not exist—that is, that we should deny that any pain or anguish exists. Rather, the message is that, though the darkness is rising, it will be overcome by the light. In reality, that light has already dawned (e.g., Isa. 9:2; Matt. 4:16).
It is also important to be aware that darkness does not have an independent existence apart from God. He has been in control of it from the very beginning of creation (e.g., Gen. 1:1–5). He is now present and at work in it even when human eyes cannot see or experience him. Christian mystics have called this phenomenon “the dark night of the soul.”20 It is during these times of what appears to be abandonment when one can become closest to the One in whom we live and move and have our being. While God does appear in blessing, too often the blessing becomes the center of attraction; when he comes in darkness and pain, one is driven to concentrate on God rather than the darkness in order to survive it.
Where is God? What would be the response, even within the church, if God appeared today in smoke and fire, or even in darkness? Have we in reality become so blind to his presence, so used to his absence to our physical eyes, that we don’t see him when he is present? Eli, the priest of God, did not recognize God when he revealed himself to Samuel (1 Sam. 3). Visions were not widespread in that day (3:1), just as they are rare today, but one wonders whether that is because God is not speaking or because his people are not listening.
I remember a news story a number of years ago of a man landing at the Toronto airport after an international flight but without a passport. His claim was that God had revealed to him that he should come to Canada to tell the Canadians about God’s love for them, even though they are among the most unchurched English-speaking nations. He was turned back by the immigration authorities. His claim seems laughable; surely he was delusional, since God doesn’t work this way in our tidy, rational lives. That is why God at times turns to mighty locust swarms to reveal himself, and at other times to an evening breeze (Gen. 3:8) or a newborn baby (Matt. 1:18–25).
Each of these events can be rationalized, since each has a natural explanation. The question does not seem to be whether or not something can be explained naturally, but who is behind the natural? God the Creator, who does things decently and in order, putting his creation in order in Genesis 1, is the One who defines natural, the One who sets it in order. Perhaps a better biblical approach would be not to deny the possibility of God acting here or there because each incident has a rational explanation, but rather to look for his providential hand of care, or discipline, even in the mundane, the natural things of life. Why take a negative, exclusionary view of God’s presence when he wants us to take a positive, inclusionary view, hearing his praises, like the psalmist, even in mute creation (see Ps. 19).